What do I need to purchase to play the epic story till the end?

[Arbatax]

As a new player, currently FTP, I am wondering what I will be in for if I want to play the epic story till the end. That is, I assume, up to and ending with Mordor.

I have read somewhere that if I reach level 50, I will have to purchase the Mines of Moria expansion to go further. And that would take me to 60. What about after that? I can find no information on that on the LOTRO site. For that matter, I cannot even find a price for the Moria expansion. So maybe what I read is old information. But what is then the current situation?

So, before I invest a lot of time in it, I am wondering how much playing to the end will cost me at minimum. (Or rather, what I would have to buy, because I understand that prices fluctuate.)

Note that I am currently not interested in expansions that are not part of Tolkien's main story. And I also don't think a VIP membership is what I'm looking for.

Can anyone enlighten me? Or give me a pointer to some definite information? Thanks!

[Neinda]

I believe you can get to the destruction of the ring these days without buying anything.

[Tralfazz]

I believe you can get to the destruction of the ring these days without buying anything.

Yes. All content that was released through 20 November 2013 is included for every account. That means almost all content up to Level 95. (I say "almost all" because some pre-95 content such as Wildwood, Yondershire, The Angle of Mitheithel, and "Further Adventures of..." were released after that date and are not included.) In addition, all accounts can play the "epic" quests which include the "book" quests and the "Bingo Boffin" quests regardless of the zone in which those quests are located or the level designated for those quests. After that, you will need to explore a VIP subscription and/or expansion or zone/quest pack purchases.

The best value in the game is a VIP subscription. If your account has never been VIP, you should go VIP for one month just to get the nice permanent unlocks (such as +30 inventory bag spaces and swift travel outside the starting zones – both unlocked forever for any character logged in while the account is at VIP status). Plus you'll get 500 LOTRO Points per month in addition to however many LOTRO Points you earn just by playing the game, which will allow you to purchase whichever expansions or other content packs you like to add to your VIP access or to add to your account permanently for when you allow your account to drop down from VIP to Premium status.

[Arbatax]

Thanks to all.

[Nebless]

What do I need to purchase to play the epic story till the end?

The Epic Quest line has always been 100% free to play from start to finish. So while you can't quest while in parts of Gondor, you can still do the Epic Quest line. (The same goes for the Bingo Boffin Quest line - 100% free to play).

As it is, F2p now has all pre-2013 content from lvl 1 to 95 which includes Moria, Isengard, Rohan and Helm's Deep so you don't have to worry about buying anything for most of the journey.

After lvl 95 you'll either need to a) buy or sub for the end of Helm's Deep to Mordor or b) level up outside those regions via festivals, instances or what not.

[Elmagor]

The Epic Quest line has always been 100% free to play from start to finish.

No, Helm's Deep wasn't F2P because of Epic Battles

Every epic quests after ring destroying needs some questpack/expansion

[Nebless]

No, Helm's Deep wasn't F2P because of Epic Battles

You are corect and I mispoke. The Epic quest line was totally free up to Helm's Deep and then was Free again after Helm's Deep but you could actually skip the Helm's Deep part if you wanted to.

If you wished to do the parts of the Epic that existed within the Helm's Deep expansion you needed to buy it.

Every epic quests after ring destroying needs some questpack/expansion

There's NO Epic Quest line after you reach Mordor, that IS the end of the Epic Quest line. Once you reach Mordor the Black Book quest line starts and is totally separate from the previous Epic quest line.